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The SAN MATEO COUNTY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY November December 2019 Issue: 663Rd General Meeting Notice: December 6, 2019

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The SAN MATEO COUNTY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY November December 2019 Issue: 663Rd General Meeting Notice: December 6, 2019 The SAN MATEO COUNTY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY November December 2019 Issue: 663rd General Meeting Notice: December 6, 2019 Founded in 1960, the San Mateo County Astronomical So- ciety is a 501(c)(3) non-profit or- ganization for amateur astrono- mers and interested members of the public. Visitors may attend Society meetings and lectures on the first Friday of each month, September to June, and star parties two Saturdays a month. All events are free for visitors and guests. Family memberships are offered at a nominal annual cost. Detailed membership information is found at http://www.smcasas- tro.com/membership.html where those who want can join via PayPal. Membership also in- cludes access to our Event Hori- zon newsletter, discounted costs and subscriptions to calendars and magazines, monthly star parties of the Society and the College of San Mateo, use of loaner telescopes, field trips, so- cial occasions and general meetings presenting guest speakers and programs. For ad- Figure 1: Photo of the November 11, 2019 planet Mercury’s solar transit taken by ditional information, please Mike Bechler, a friend of SMCAS members Mary Ann McKay and Ed Pease. Mercury email us at [email protected], is the small disc inside the red box. More on the 2019 Mercury transit on Page 12. or call (650) 678-2762. Membership forms are availa- ble near the end of this news- letter beginning on page 22. 1 Table of Contents Upcoming 2019 SMCAS Events: .................................................................................................................... 3 Solar System Rise and Set Times: ................................................................................................................. 3 President’s Corner: ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Announcements: .......................................................................................................................................... 5 My tenure as Event Horizon editor will be ending soon: .........................................................................................5 Outreach Volunteers Needed at Upcoming Girl Scouts Family Night Events ............................................................5 GalileoScopes For Christmas ..................................................................................................................................6 2019 Year End Publication Order Pickup .................................................................................................................6 SMCAS General Meeting and Presentation Announcement .......................................................................... 7 Probing Fundamental Physics with Strong Gravitational Lensing .................................................................. 8 Types of Gravitational Lensing: ..............................................................................................................................9 Types of Gravitational Lensing images: ..................................................................................................................9 Surveys Looking for Gravitational Lensing: ........................................................................................................... 10 Gravitational Lensing Applications: ...................................................................................................................... 10 2019 Mercury Transit ................................................................................................................................. 12 CSM Family Science and Astronomy Festival + Makerspace ........................................................................ 13 SMCAS Fall Equinox Party .......................................................................................................................... 14 SLAC/KIPAC Community Day ...................................................................................................................... 15 NASA Night Sky Notes:............................................................................................................................... 17 The Orion Nebula: Window into a Stellar Nursery ................................................................................................ 17 Crestview Star Party .................................................................................................................................. 19 Directions to SMCAS Public Star Parties (Weather Permitting): ................................................................... 20 Become an SMCAS Member Today! Here’s what you get: .......................................................................... 22 Annual Dues: ....................................................................................................................................................... 22 To join you can: ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Areas of Interest: ................................................................................................................................................ 23 2 Upcoming 2019 SMCAS Events: Saturday, November 30, 2019, 4:50 –9 pm: Crestview Star Party (Page 19) Friday, December 6, 2019, 7 –9:30 pm: CSM General Meeting (Page 7) Saturday, December 7, 2019, 5:30-7:30 pm: Free Stargazing at CSM Observatory Tuesday, December 10, 2019, 5–6 pm: Girl Scouts Family Night (Page 5) Wednesday, December 11, 2019, 5:15–6:15 pm: Girl Scouts Family Night (Page 5) Friday, December 13, 2019, 7:30–8 pm and 8:30–9 pm: The Sky Tonight Planetarium Shows Thursday, December 19, 2019, 5–6 pm: Girl Scouts Family Night (Page 5) Saturday, December 21, 2019, 4:50 –9 pm: Crestview Star Party (Page 19) Saturday, December 28, 2019, 4:50 –9 pm: Crestview Star Party (Page 19) Solar System Rise and Set Times: By Ron Cardinale Rise set times from http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/rise/CA/San%20Carlos/ Jupiter’s moons' positions from http://www.shallowsky.com/jupiter/ 3 President’s Corner: Hello Friends. I want to thank the Society members who helped with our successful social and outreach events during October and November. The CSM Family Science Day and Astronomy Festival on Oct. 5th was a great success, drawing hundreds, and perhaps over 1,000 enthusias- tic visitors. We had great participation from our club members and also by our fellow present- ers from SLAC/KIPAC, and the keynote talk by Dr. Brian Day was so popular that there is senti- ment to invite him back next year. Jazz Under the Stars was especially enjoyable with back- ground music provided by two superb live jazz musicians. See the article on Page 13. October 12th was our Autumnal Equinox Potluck event and, while I was indisposed with the flu, I understand a good time was had by all. See the article on Page 14. The SLAC/KIPAC Community Day on Oct. 19th was also very popular. We were able to offer dozens of folks their own planispheres, introductions to telescope optical systems, and looks through telescopes at Jupiter and Saturn. See the article on Page 15. Then, on November 9th, a number of us attended the Girl Scout Night Owl Badge event at Sky- lark Ranch, south of Pescadero, CA. There was a bright Moon, but the tree line obscured it until late. It was a rewarding event, and a good time. The girls, their counselors and escorts were very appreciative. We have three more opportunities to support Girl Scout programs in elementary schools on December 10th, 11th (full-Moon nights, in Daly City) and 19th (in East Palo Alto). Ed Pieret is seeking volunteers with telescopes, so please check out his newsgroup emails or the article on Page 5. It’s only a one-hour program in each case. One more thing. Our newsletter, the Event Horizon, is a fine publication, and we’ve been for- tunate to have had some excellent editors, most recently Bill Lockman, who’s been doing a superb job. However, his was always a short-term stint and, he now needs to relinquish the task. So, I appeal to anyone seeking an active role in club activities to consider heading it up for a while. There’s plenty of guidance available. You can follow, or alter, the form and content. Plus, we can form a Bulletin Committee, whose members can share feature preparation. Any- one interested, please contact any of us on the Board, and we would be happy to discuss what you might like to do. Thank you all for your participation. I look forward to seeing you all at the December 6th monthly meeting. Mike Ryan, President, San Mateo County Astronomical Society [email protected] 4 Announcements: My tenure as Event Horizon editor will be ending soon: Last March, 2019, I took on the task of the Event Horizon newsletter editor for one year, as agreed to by the SMCAS Board. This tenure will end with the publication of the upcoming January-March 2020 issue of the Event Horizon. The SMCAS Board will be looking for a new editor in the meantime. If you are interested, please respond to the message titled “My tenure as Event Horizon editor will be ending soon” In [email protected] Bill Lockman Outreach Volunteers Needed at Upcoming Girl Scouts Family Night Events The Girl Scouts of Northern California are providing 12 weeks of STEM education as part of after school programs at schools in underserved communities. The Family Night is at the end of those 12 weeks and is an opportunity for the girls to show their
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